Mowbray: 'Swindon will be an interesting challenge'

Tony Mowbray has spoken further about the threats offered by first game opponents Swindon Town.

“Swindon present an almost unique threat. The way they play, you have to be prepared for their distinctive brand of football. It’s very expansive.

“They score a lot of goals and perhaps didn’t have as successful season last year as they deserve. Getting to the play-off final the previous year, they had to rebuild after that.

“We’ll wait and see what squad they have built at the beginning of the season, and yet their style of play won’t change. The coach, Luke Williams is the same and he will play his trademark attacking football. It will be a good test for us and we will have to make sure we are organised out of possession as they will be good on the ball.

“An interesting challenge on the opening day for us and I’m looking forward to it.”

Give us your views on the Sky Blues fixtures

EFL Dates

Ahead of today’s draw, here are the dates you need for the competition.

The first round includes 70 of the 72 Football League clubs this season, with Newcastle United and Norwich City handed a bye in the first round after finishing highest in the league ladder.

June 22: EFL Cup draw

Week commencing August 8th: First round

W/C August 21st: Second round

W/C September 19th: Third round

W/C October 24th: Fourth round

W/C November 28th: Quarter-finals

W/C January 9th: Semi-final first legs

W/C January 23rd: Semi-final second legs

February 26th: Final

Wembley Stadium

12:03

One hour until EFL Cup draw is made

Stick with us this afternoon as we will be finding out who City will face in the League Cup.

Capital One are no longer sponsoring it so it’s just the EFL Cup this season.

Mowbray’s men are seeded in the southern side of the draw.

11:08

Jodi can't wait

11:07KEY EVENT

WATCH: Andy Turner on what to take from the fixtures

The Sky Blues reporter has reflected on the fixtures and has picked out a few of the dates to look out for...

10:58

Thoughts from Swindon on the opener

Coventry City’s trip to Swindon Town on the opening day of the season should, on paper at least, be one for the purists.

Both clubs are yet to draft in key signings to give an indication of the strength of their squads but the one thing that won’t change is the style of football we can expect when the Sky Blues go head to head with the Robins on August 6.

“I’m sure Swindon fans will see Coventry at home as a good opponent to get the season started, especially being a well established club and one of the better clubs in League One,” said Dan Barnes, Swindon Town reporter for the Swindon Advertiser.

Andy Rose in action from a corner with Jamie Sendles-White

“But I think most will just be delighted that Swindon kick-off at home.

“Things are a little bit up in the air here because there’s always quite a high turnover of the squad with a lot of players who have left and still a lot of recruitment to happen, so we don’t really know what sort of side the Robins will have yet.

“No-one really knows how strong the team will be or what to expect. The club made the play-off finals the season before last but it didn’t really work out for them last season.

The County Ground

“But the one thing that doesn’t change is the style. Fans will always know that Swindon will try to play a brand of passing football, like to dominate possession and play it out from the back so I am sure Coventry will know what to expect.

“I think there’s potential for a decent game, fingers crossed one for the purists with two teams playing decent football.”

10:51

EFL Cup draw on the way

City will find out their opponents in the EFL Cup at 1pm this afternoon.

In a first for British football, the draw will be live streamed on Facebook and we’ll have live coverage here.

Sky Blues have been named as one of the southern seeded teams after their top-half League One finish last season.

Play-off date

It might be worth noting down the date for the League One play-off final at Wembley.

May 20: EFL Sky Bet League One Play-Off Final

09:25

Final day

Sky Blues will make the trip to Glanford Park to face Scunthorpe on the final day of the season.

Hopefully City will have clinched promotion by then!

Coventry City fans in the stands at Glanford Park

09:23

Christmas period

So, it’s two away trips for the Sky Blues over the festive period including a two-hour drive to Bristol on Boxing Day.

Cheers for that EFL!

Monday 26th, 3pm - Bristol Rovers (away)

Saturday 31st, 3pm Peterborough United (away)

Monday 2nd, 3pm - Bolton Wanderers (home)

09:12KEY EVENT

REACTION FROM TONY MOWBRAY

We’ve spoken to Tony Mowbray about the fixtures - here what he had to say.

“The opening day fixtures are a bit of a lottery that can go either way.

“It’s a bit like the first games in the Euros which are so tight and cagey and so close. You just hope you come out on top but there’s no guarantee.

“You get a six week build-up to it and the teams will know everything about you and seen three or four pre-season matches. They know all about your team, what you’re doing, how you play and they’ll be set up for it.

“So they are tight games because the teams know so much about each other whereas when the season unfolds you have to play Saturday/Tuesday/Saturday and you only have a couple of days to prepare the players for the next opposition.”

Coventry City’s Manager Tony Mowbray prior to kick off

09:10

A good start for Sky Blues?

So here’s the full start to the season. We’ll pick out some key dates and go month-by-month.

August

Saturday 6th, 3pm - Swindon Town (away)

Saturday 13th, 3pm - Shrewsbury Town (home)

Tuesday 16th, 7.45pm - Bury (home)

Saturday 20th, 3pm - Bradford City (away)

Saturday 27th, 3pm Northampton (home)

September

Saturday 3rd, 3pm - Fleetwood Town (away)

Saturday 10th, 3pm - Milllwall (away)

Saturday 17th, 3pm - Oldham Athletic (home)

Saturday 24th, 3pm - Gillingham (away)

Tuesday 27th, 7.45pm - AFC Wimbledon (home)

October

Saturday 1st, 3pm - Port Vale (away)

Saturday 8th, 3pm Chesterfield (home)

Saturday 15th, 3pm - Charlton Athletic (away)

Tuesday 18th, 3pm - Oxford United (home)

Saturday 22nd, 3pm - Rochdale (home)

Saturday 29th, 3pm - Walsall (away)

09:02

SKY BLUES FIXTURES

Coventry City kick off their fifth attempt to get out of League One with a trip to Swindon Town on August 6.

Tony Mowbray’s Sky Blues then have back-to-back home games the following Saturday and Tuesday when they welcome Jim O’Brien back for his first return to the Ricoh Arena with Shrewsbury Town before entertaining Bury.

The Sky Blue Army get the long drive to Steven Pressley’s Fleetwood out of the way nice and early on September 3 and face local rivals Walsall at the end of October, with the return M6 derby fixture coming in the penultimate match of the season.

City face the first of the of big hitters who have dropped out of the Championship when they travel to Charlton Athletic in mid-October, swiftly followed by relatively easy road trip to Oxford United, and face

Bolton Wanderers away on Tuesday, November 22, immediately followed by the third of the relegated sides, MK Dons, at home.

The festive fixtures have not been kind to the supporters with a Boxing Day trip – which falls on a Monday – to newly-promoted Bristol Rovers followed by a New Year’s Eve match at Peterborough United before hosting Bolton on Monday, January 2.

One of the more eagerly awaited games for the fans will, no doubt, be the first return to Sixfields – home of City’s controversial season-long exile – to take on League Two Champions Northampton Town on January 28.

There’s a sting in the tail of the first league encounter against AFC Wimbledon, falling on Tuesday, February 14, and there’s a relatively tough run-in to the end of the campaign starting with the difficult trip to Sheffield United on April 1 before taking on Peterborough and Charlton at home ahead of a trip to Rochdale on Easter Monday. They also face the Saddlers before ending the season with at trip to face bogey side Scunthorpe United, now managed by Cov Kid Graham Alexander.